EA confirms layoffs at F1 developer Codemasters

EA has confirmed layoffs at UK developer Codemasters, the developer behind recent racing games F1 23 and EA Sports WRC.

It is unclear at present how many employees will be affected and from which departments.

“Our business is constantly changing as we strive to deliver amazing games and services that keep our players engaged, connected, and inspired,” reads a statement from an EA spokesperson to IGN.

“At times, this requires the company to make small-scale organisational changes that align our teams and resources to meet evolving business needs and priorities. We continue to work closely with those affected by these changes, providing appropriate support throughout this process.”

Codemasters is known for its racing games, including the likes of Dirt, Grid, and the official F1 games.

The studio was acquired by EA in 2021 for $1.2bn. Shortly after, CEO Frank Sagnier and CFO Rashid Varachia left Codemasters. The following year, Codemasters Cheshire was merged with Criterion Games to work on the Need for Speed series.

However, Need for Speed Unbound struggled to make an impact on its release last year. This year, neither F1 23 or EA Sports WRC have sold particularly well despite some positive criticism. “A bracing and richly textured celebration of rally,” reads our EA Sports WRC review from last month.

Elsewhere at EA, six percent of the workforce was laid off in March this year. That announcement followed Apex Legends QA testers being laid off from its Baton Rouge, Louisiana office. Then in August, BioWare laid off around 50 employees, who launched a lawsuit in October seeking better severance pay.

Today’s news follows redundancies across the games industry throughout the year, most recently at Fae Farm developer Phoenix Labs, Ubisoft, 505 Games parent company Digital Bros, Humble Games, and Warframe developer Digital Extremes.